Hidden moth

Chapter 154: Poison-fueled Fire Roasting the Dragon

In the leeward valley, there is a cliff halfway up the hillside, and a natural crack under the cliff forms a triangular cave.

There was not much snow near the cave entrance, so someone cleaned it up, built a simple earthen stove with stones, and collected pine needles and dead branches to light a bonfire.

A frame made of branches was built on the bonfire, and two washed and skinned flying dragons were placed on the wooden frame.

Feilong is the name in Northeast China, and its scientific name is Hazel Grouse.

It is a delicacy and could be bought from time to time in the vegetable market in the past. Later, it was included in the list of national protected animals and hunting was prohibited.

But this is within the territory of Maoro, and we are here for emergency risk avoidance purposes. It should be no problem to kill two flying dragons to fill our stomachs, right?
Zeng Hongye and Xiao Si headed towards the direction where the smoke was rising, climbed over two hills, passed through a valley, and when they reached halfway up the slope, they saw this scene.

They thought to themselves that Wu Yanjun was really good at escaping. His wild survival skills were almost maxed out. He actually found a camp like this with caves to shelter from the wind and cold, and he could also hunt in the mountains and forests.

The snow on the hillside was covered with messy footprints, and there was a pile of chicken feathers near the cave entrance.

In fact, if you light a fire here, the smoke will be quickly blown away by the wind over the valley, making it difficult to detect from a distance. If Zeng Hongye hadn't been particularly attentive and had excellent eyesight, he wouldn't have noticed it today.

The cave was formed by rock fault fissures, not the kind of karst caves in the south, so it is not deep. It ends five meters inside. The interior space is about two meters wide and three meters high, and is filled with the smell of pine smoke.

Wu Yanjun had apparently made a fire in the cave to keep warm in the past few days, and dry pine needles were the best kindling.

At the end of the cave, there was a pile of dry grass and a messy, peeled roe deer skin. This must be where Wu Yanjun slept. Next to it was a pair of snowboard boots, perhaps worn for several days and wanted to take them off and air them out.

Xiao Si: "Where are the people?"

Zeng Hongye: "That guy was very alert. He was sitting by the fire at the entrance of the cave, where he had a good view. He probably noticed us coming and quickly slipped away... He just left without even wearing shoes, so he can't get far this time!"

Zeng Hongye walked out of the cave with full confidence and used his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings. If there were any new footprints, they would definitely not escape his perception - but he found nothing!

There were many footprints around, but none of them had fled far away, nor had they just left behind! Wu Yanjun hadn't even had time to put on his shoes, and he was just roasting something here. Could he have flown away?

I heard that the guy is a second-level broker of Ruweimen. I also witnessed his extraordinary skills when I was chasing him a few days ago, but I haven't heard that Ruweimen has such a method of hiding its tracks. Could it be that he relies on some special props?
Even if that kid has some magic weapon to hide his tracks, it is not something that a mere second-level cultivator can use. Could it be that the previous information was wrong, and that kid has broken through to the third level and can partially utilize the magic weapon?

No wonder it’s so hard to chase!

Thinking of this, Zeng Hongye even felt a little eager. What kind of treasure could it be? If he could catch the other party, it would be an unexpected gain.

Wu Yanjun fled in a hurry and could not have made sufficient preparations beforehand. Now his hiding camp has been discovered and he is not even wearing shoes. Even if he has any magic weapon, he cannot escape his pursuit in this snowy and icy place.

At this time, Xiao Si shouted: "Two roasted flying dragons, he hasn't had time to eat them yet!"

As he spoke, Xiao Si squatted down beside the earthen stove and used his hands to move the branches of the flying dragons to prevent them from burning. The two flying dragons were now emitting an enticing aroma that made people swallow their saliva.

Zeng Hongye: "He didn't even use any salt. How can it taste like that if it's grilled like that?"

Xiao Si: "The flying dragon itself is very fragrant... We have salt, sprinkle some on it!"

The two men had clearly come prepared, bringing plenty of supplies, even salt. The other items were left at the camp, but the salt was probably more important, so Xiao Si had it with him, along with a vitamin bottle in his pocket.

Zeng Hongye: "Aren't you afraid that guy will poison you?"

Xiao Si: "If he wants to poison us, he needs talent! He came across us when he was skiing. How could he have prepared in advance? Here, even if he wanted to pick poisonous mushrooms, there is nowhere to find them..."

As he spoke, he swallowed again and looked up and said, "Master, you have great magical powers. Can you take a look at this flying dragon to see if there is anything wrong with it? Anyway, I have observed it with my spiritual sense and I think it is edible!"

He was greedy. Life had been tough these days, so of course he wanted to try the ready-made roasted flying dragon.

Zeng Hongye smiled and said, "Then you eat first and leave one for me. If you are really poisoned, I can still save you."

In fact, Zeng Hongye had already used his spiritual sense to carefully examine the two roasted flying dragons and found nothing wrong. However, as a high-level warlock, he inexplicably felt a faint sense of danger around him... Out of caution, he decided to let Xiao Si taste it first.

Xiao Si took out a plastic bottle of salt from his pocket, cut a few cuts on the flying dragon with a knife, sprinkled salt on it carefully, roasted it for a while, and then took a delicious bite. His eyes immediately lit up, and he quickly finished the whole flying dragon.

Then he handed the branch to Zeng Hongye: "Look, it's okay for me to eat it, so this one is for you. It's roasted to perfection."

Zeng Hongye took the branch but did not eat it. Instead, he looked at Xiao Si with a scrutinizing look.

Xiao Si wondered, "What's wrong?" Zeng Hongye asked, "Do you feel anything is wrong?"

Xiao Si: "No... Oh, oh, why do I feel a little dizzy."

Zeng Hongye grabbed his pulse and asked, "Are you poisoned?"

Xiao Si was shocked: "Is there something wrong with Feilong?"

Zeng Hongye: "It's not Feilong's problem...Come in, let me take a closer look."

He stuck the branch into the ground and led Xiao Si into the cave. Xiao Si's steps were already a little unsteady, and when he reached the end of the cave, he lay down in the haystack, his body going limp.

Although Zeng Hongye is not a practitioner of the Guanshen Sect, he has reached the fourth level of cultivation after all, so he can still check the circulation of a person's qi and blood... It's not that they are poisoned by the food they eat, but that the smoke they inhaled is poisonous!

Zeng Hongye reacted quickly and stood up. He felt a little weak and his consciousness was blurred. He immediately waved his hand and sent out a strong wind, pushing down the earthen stove at the entrance of the cave.

The moment the fire was extinguished, a thick smoke rose up again and poured into the cave, which was very choking.

He realized that there was something wrong with the smoke, but he made a mistake and pushed the earthen stove over to extinguish the flames. At that moment, thick smoke would definitely appear... Zeng Hongye held his breath and rushed out of the cave, but was hit on the back of the head by something and fell to the ground.

The place where he fell was the area with the thickest smoke. After an unknown amount of time, the fire was completely extinguished, the smoke cleared, and He Kao finally walked down the hillside, assault rifle still in hand.

He hadn't fired a shot just now, only knocking Zeng Hongye unconscious, because Elder Li had said he should try to capture him alive so he could interrogate him. But the bullet was already loaded, and he could shoot at any time if the situation got out of control.

The stealth moth is good at tracking, stealth, and assassination. Its specialty is its elusiveness and it is difficult to guard against. It is almost impossible for it to fight with anyone for hundreds of rounds.

He Kao has mastered the art of identifying poisons and has gained some basic knowledge of identifying medicines, and today he is putting his knowledge into practice.

There will of course be smoke when the bonfire is lit by pine needles and dry branches. What He Kao put in there is a colorless and odorless volatile drug, which is almost undetectable. Moreover, when the "material" is placed in the fire, it will take some time for it to evaporate gradually.

Burying the object that produces poisonous smoke in a blazing fire can also block the detection of spiritual consciousness.

When Zeng Hongye and Xiao Si first arrived at the cave entrance, the smoke was still non-toxic. Even if Zeng Hongye had been more cautious, he wouldn't have noticed it at the time. Furthermore, they hadn't thought about it and their attention wasn't focused on it.

It's not easy to knock out a high-level sorcerer with poisonous smoke, and it's even harder in an open area. A fourth-level gardener from the Danding Sect would likely be able to quickly detect the situation, cast a spell to resist the poison, and escape the smoke's range.

However, the sorcerers of Wangqimen and Xingshenmen are better at dealing with people.

As for why He Kao left the roasted flying dragon here, it was mainly to show that "Xiao Wu" escaped in a hurry and to divert the other party's attention. Unexpectedly, it was really eaten by Xiao Si!

Why is this guy so mean?
Xiao Si was, after all, a third-tier sorcerer, able to sense the properties of matter with his divine sense. He thought roasting the dragon was no problem, and Zeng Hongye agreed. However, Xiao Si had sat by the fire for so long that the poison had taken effect.

Zeng Hongye's method was more clever. He noticed that something was wrong with Xiao Si in time, and then realized that the smoke was poisonous. However, he had been in the increasingly strong drug for too long.

It is inevitable that there will be some mistakes when reacting to the drug. Putting out the open fire made the smoke thicker. Although he was very capable and rushed out of the cave, he was ambushed and knocked unconscious by He Kao.

This was also He Kao's first time attacking a high-level warlock, so his attack was inevitably a bit heavy. After a careful inspection, he confirmed that he had not killed Zeng Hongye, and he probably had not turned him into an idiot either. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief...

Otherwise, the task assigned to him by Elder Li would be ruined.

Although ordinary ropes were difficult to tie up a third-level warlock or above, it was still better to tie them up. He took a bundle of climbing ropes and tied the two of them tightly, and dragged Zeng Hongye into the cave to prevent him from freezing to death outside.

After thinking about it, he was still worried, so he gave up the bonfire, took out the portable camp stove, boiled some medicine again, and gave it to the two unconscious people to drink, which would hinder the flow of their spiritual energy. Even if they woke up, it would be difficult for them to cast spells.

If Zeng Hongye was still conscious, he might have fainted from anger. This man was too mean and cautious. He first knocked him out with poisonous smoke, then hit him on the back of the head, and finally forced him to drink a mouthful of medicine!

After doing all this, He Kao built a new earthen stove. This time, the stone circle was very high, pine needles and fallen leaves were spread underneath, and dead branches and dry firewood were placed on top. Soon after it was ignited, flames rose.

Seeing the fire was already starting, He Kao turned around and got another bag of things from somewhere, and dumped them all into the fire. A thick smoke gradually rose into the sky, and the smoke column became higher and thicker.

What he poured into the fire was freeze-dried feces from various wild animals collected nearby, including wolf feces.

It is said that adding wolf dung to a fire would create a thick, straight smoke called wolf smoke, which was used in ancient beacon towers. Historians have found that there are still differences in the interpretation of "wolf smoke".

But this did not hinder He Kao's practical application. The smoke was indeed very thick, rose very high, and was very irritating!

**
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(End of this chapter)